Often you would find that you are not able to connect to the internet but there is nothing wrong with the system on your ISP's side(INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER).

Before you start becoming agitated, try using the "PING" (PACKET INTERNET GROPER) method to see if you have a connection established with the internet. Now this is done remotely using the secure shell access or Telnet. Most people are usually not too familiar with these because you only use it when you want to troubleshoot a problem remotely or make use of some functions remotely.

There are so many commands that can be used remotely but for this particular lesson let us concentrate on the PING command.

This is how to use the PING command in windows:

If you are using windows XP then follow these procedures but if you are using Vista then the procedure is the same but with slight differences on where you will find the navigation links to run remote process.

Using XP on your desktop select Start then Run and then type CMD in the command prompt box. A command window with dark background will appear.

In the command window type ping www.anysite.com and press enter You should recieve some response text starting with ;

Reply From IP blah blah blah.

This will appear in up to 4 lines of the text. If you get that response then that means you have a connection to the internet . If you are still experencing a problem not connecting to the internet, i would suggest you shut don your modem/Router, leave it for some 10 mins and the start it up again. Sometimes a slight change from the ISP might  have reset your router configuration and it will need to be started again in other to pick up the new configuration.